F/A-18 Hornet Breaking The Sound Barrier

Photo courtesy of the U.S. Navy.
Like most people, you have probably heard a sonic boom at least once in your lifetime, but very few people ever have the opportunity to actually see an aircraft create one. Today's picture will change that...

A sonic boom occurs when an object breaks the sound barrier. As the object travels through the air, the air is condensed into sound waves that extend out from the object in a manner similar to the wake created by a boat moving across water.

If the object is traveling faster than the speed of sound, the sound waves that normally would have "passed" the object are "stacked up" behind it until the combined pressure of the waves reaches the release point. At that point in time the pressure is suddenly released - and we hear the resulting sonic boom. An aircraft typically must reach 750 miles per hour in order to create a sonic boom!

Today's picture shows an F/A 18 Hornet actually breaking the sound barrier. The prevailing theory regarding the cause of the unusual cloud is that as the plane approached the speed of sound, the drop in air pressure at the aircraft caused the moist air to condense there - forming thousands of water droplets!

So the next time you hear a sonic boom, you can tell the person next to you that you have actually seen one being created...in today's Picture Of The Day!

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